2025 NCAA Zone Diving Recap: Wednesday

2025 NCAA Zone Diving Championships

• Zone A
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
  • Results
• Zone B
  • March 9-12, 2025
  • Auburn, Alabama
  • Results
• Zone C
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Results
• Zone D
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Iowa City, Iowa
  • Results
• Zone E
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Federal Way, Washington
  • Results

While the 2025 NCAA Championship swimming qualifiers are all but locked in, the divers are competing over the next few days to secure their spots. Unlike in swimming, divers are not able to qualify to the NCAA’s during the regular season. The nature of diving is such that the judging cannot be fully standardized across the nation, so the NCAA hosts five different “zone” meets across the nation to award Championship qualification. The locations of each of the meets cover a certain regional area and teams must attend their assigned zone location.

Each event within each zone is awarded a certain amount of automatic qualifying spots. In the interest of simplicity, the number of qualifying spots zones receive are a reflection of how well divers from that zone placed at the previous NCAA Championships. No matter how many automatic qualifying spots a zone has, athletes who place in the top 12 but are outside of the qualifying standard are basically awarded what is the equivalent to a “B” cut in swimming. Meaning, as long as they are a qualifier in one event, they may compete in others they placed top 12 in at zones.

And if the NCAA qualifying procedures for divers weren’t complicated enough as is, the zone meet is structured slightly differently than other regular season and championship meets. This postseason competition is run as a prelims-finals meet and cumulative scoring. This means each dive counts equally and consistency is key to success at this meet.

***Divers listed below with a star indicates those who achieved what is essentially their “B” cut***

Zone A (Piscataway, NJ)

Women’s platform (5 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Bailee Sturgill (Rutgers) – 570.30
2. Sephora Ford (Rutgers) – 565.20
3. Mariana Osorio Mendoza (Pitt) – 536.20
4. Remi Edvalson (Harvard) – 508.25
5. Jess Vega (Pitt) – 492.75
6. Katerina Hoffman (Rutgers) – 491.05*
7. Maggie Squire (Princeton) – 475.25*
8. Grace Austin (Virginia Tech) – 468.15*
9. Elizabeth Miclau (Harvard) – 468.05*
10. Elizabeth Kaye (Virginia) – 458.90*
11. Samantha Holtz (Harvard) – 450.15
12. Peyton Guziec (Virginia Tech) – 449.05

Bailee Sturgill and Sephora Ford carry on the great performance by the Rutgers women in Zone A, securing the top two spots in the platform event. The remaining three auto qualifiers, Osorio Mendoza, Edvalson, and Vega had all not qualified prior to Wednesday, so they made the most of their final opportunity. Rutgers diver Katerina Hoffman placed sixth on platform, but automatically qualified on springboard earlier in the week, so she will be competing in all three events at NCAAs. Additionally, Virginia’s Elizabeth Kaye secured the “B standard,” so she will compete all events if UVA decides to scratch a swimmer in order to free up a roster spot for Kaye.

Men’s platform (5 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Jackson Salisbury (Pitt) – 668.15
2. Chase Marafioto (Pitt) – 646.70
3. George Callanan (Princeton) – 641.75
4. Owen Recker (WVU) – 634.60
5. William Cooley (Columbia) – 597.40
6. Aidan Wang (Princeton) – 596.20*
7. Jacob Fisher (Virginia Tech) – 594.80*
8. Cameron Cash (Pitt) – 584.55*
9. Holden Wheeler (George Washington) – 545.95*
10. Rocky Ramsland (Virginia Tech) – 540.60*
11. Nathan Cox (Virginia Tech) – 632.55*
12. Everett Tai (Dartmouth) – 522.30*

Each of the five men who auto-qualified in the platform event were not previously qualified on springboard, so they all punched their ticket on the final day. Pitt added two men to their NCAA roster in Jackson Salisbury and Chase Marafioto, as the pair take the top two positions in this event. They will join senior Cameron Cash, who will now officially be competing on all three events in Federal Way.

Zone B (Auburn, AL)

Women’s platform (7 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Aranza Vazquez Montano (UNC) – 597.65
2. Sofia Knight (UNC) – 588.60
3. Kayleigh Clark (Florida State) – 571.60
4. Emily Halifax (Auburn) – 568.10
5. Camyla Monroy (Florida) – 566.50
6. Anna Bradescu (Georgia Tech) – 552.50
7. Casey Greenberg (Florida) – 523.40
8. Lanie Gutch (UNC) – 523.30*
9. Frida Zuniga Guzman (East Carolina) – 510.35*
10. Abigail Farrar (Auburn) – 504.60*
11. Chloe Brothers (Auburn) – 489.85*
12. Isabel Gregersen (Florida State)*

The North Carolina women added another to their roster Wednesday as Sofia Knight easily hit the automatic qualifying standard on the platform. She will join Lanie Gutch and Aranza Vazquez Montano, who will both be competing in all events in Washington. On the final day of Zone B competition, Auburn and Georgia Tech qualified their first divers to Women’s NCAA’s as Emily Halifax and Anna Bradescu placed in the top seven.

Zone C (Columbus, OH)

Women’s platform (11 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Daryn Wright (Purdue) – 634.80 / Skyler Liu (Indiana) – 634.80
2. –
3. Sophia McAfee (Purdue) – 589.45
4. Ella Roselli (Indiana) – 582.20
5. Paola Pineda (Ohio State) – 582.10
6. Mary Kate Cavanaugh (Indiana) – 515.60
7. Lily Witte (Indiana) – 493.35
8. Abby Devereaux (Kentucky) – 485.45
9. Sammantha Helmboldt (Louisville) – 484.35
10. Meg Lupa (Eastern Michigan) – 480.20
11. Isabella Chen (Northwestern) – 462.65
12. Jenna Sonnenberg (Purdue) – 457.35*

It is rare to see a tie in diving, let alone a tie for first place. Purdue’s Daryn Wright and reigning Big 10 champion, Skyler Liu tied for the top spot and will add platform to their schedule of events for next week. Purdue’s McAfee, Indiana’s Roselli, Ohio State’s Pineda, Indiana’s Witte, and Purdue’s Sonnenberg also completed the trio of event qualifications through their performances on the final competition day. The IU women added a fourth diver to their championship roster, with Mary Kate Cavanaugh qualifying after placing sixth in Columbus on Wednesday.

Men’s platform (10 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Jordan Rzepka (Purdue) – 899.35
2. Maxwell Weinrich (Indiana) – 814.60
3. Carson Tyler (Indiana) – 804.00
4. Tyler Wills (Purdue) – 793.65
5. Quinn Henninger (Indiana) – 780.30
6. Benedict Nguyen (Notre Dame) – 753.25
7. Kaden Springfield (Purdue) – 749.35
8. Clayton Chaplin (Ohio State) – 712.55
9. Kyle Ly (Northwestern) – 695.75
10. Dash Glasberg (Indiana) – 658.65
11. Ramez Sobhy (Cincinnati) – 653.60*
12. Kylie Flory (Ohio State) – 649.75*

It’s no surprise to see Indiana and Purdue comprising most of the leaderboard in Zone C. Kaden Springfield and Tyler Wills secured their qualification in this event and will be a part of Purdue’s large diving team in Federal Way. Indiana’s Dash Glasberg secured the final qualification spot on the final day to add another couple events for Indiana’s NCAA men’s diving team. Notre Dame’s Benedict Nguyen and Northwestern’s Kyle Ly also secured their spots to compete in Federal Way on the final day.

Zone D (Iowa City, IA)

Women’s platform (9 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Alejandra Estudillo (Texas) – 639.85
2. Montserrat Lavenant (LSU) – 639.50
3. Viviana Del Angel (Minnesota) – 623.70
4. Maria Sanchez-Moreno (Arkansas) – 616.60
5. Else Praasterink (Texas A&M) – 613.60
6. Bayleigh Cranford (Texas) – 552.50
7. Michelle McLeod (Houston) – 547.80
8. Mia Henninger (Mizzou) – 540.90
9. Maggie Buckley (LSU) – 533.25
10. Geneva Pauly (Iowa) – 523.25*
11. Kelsey Clairmont (Nebraska) – 522.65*
12. Taylor Fox (Texas) – 522.20*

Each of the top seven women on the platform in Iowa City were previously qualified on springboard, so they are adding to their schedules in Federal Way. Mizzou freshman Mia Henninger secured her first NCAA qualification by placing eighth and LSU’s Maggie Buckley secured her third straight NCAA appearance by taking the final available spot in the zone. Texas freshman Alejandra Estudillo won two of her three events this weekend and placed second on the other, making her a major scoring threat for next week’s championships.

Men’s platform (8 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Jaxon Bowshire (Texas A&M) – 875.20
2. Carson Paul (LSU) – 834.40
3. Rhett Hensley (Texas A&M) – 788.80
4. Tommaso Zannella (Mizzou) – 762.00
5. Derek Colbert (Mizzou) – 753.45
6. Andrew Bennett (Minnesota) – 734.20
7. Deacon Colbert (Mizzou) – 732.80
8. Jacob Welsh (Texas) – 706.00
9. Jacob Jones (Texas) – 703.65*
10. Braylon Goodno (Minnesota) – 690.60*
11. Bryn James (TCU) – 679.00*
12. Matthew Aigner (Texas A&M) – 677.15*

Texas A&M and Mizzou were the two big winners in Zone D as A&M added two divers to their championship roster and Mizzou added three on this event alone. Two of Texas’ four qualified divers, freshmen Welsh and Jones, each placed in the top 12 on platform and are qualified to compete in all of the diving events in Federal Way. With Texas already at the maximum championship team roster size, the Longhorn coaches have a decision to make on how many divers they will actually bring.

Zone E (Federal Way, WA)

Women’s 1m (8 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Brooke Earley (Arizona) – 586.10
2. Holly Waxman (Utah) – 553.95
3. Kathryn Grant (Utah) – 549.20
4. Zara Joy Ayazi (Arizona) – 526.30
5. Callie Eaglestone (Utah) – 525.25
6. Lauren Burch (Stanford) – 517.50
7. Victoria Knapp (Northern Arizona) – 515.25
8. Molly Brascia (UCLA) – 507.65
9. Bailey Heydra (Nevada) – 503.35*
10. Emilie Moore (Stanford) – 499.30*
11. Violet Williamson (Cal) – 498.60*
12. Audrey Thordarson-Wehner (California Baptist) – 495.05*

The Utah women continue to impress in their showing at zones this year. All three of them added one meter to their championship schedule, with Waxman qualifying to dive in all three. The Stanford women add a second diver to their NCAA team with Senior Lauren Burch placing sixth. Northern Arizona super senior Victoria Knapp grabbed one of the final spots on the final day to qualify for her first NCAA championships.

Men’s platform (7 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Misha Andriyuk (Stanford) – 813.90
2. Laurent Gosselin-Paradis (USC) – 775.75
3. Geoffrey Vavitsas (Cal) – 769.90
4. Mario Del Valle Jr (California Baptist) – 746.65
5. Gage Dubois (Arizona) – 730.95
6. Joshua Thai (Cal) – 717.35
7. Robert Gref (USC) – 712.90
8. Lane Stallworth (Arizona State) – 685.70*
9. Omar El Sayed (Grand Canyon) – 663.15*
10. Jack Clark (Cal) – 655.55*
11. Jesco Helling (Utah) – 637.85*
12. Chase Hindmarsh (BYU) – 633.95*

ACC runner up Misha Andriyuk finished a solid list of dives to officially qualify to his first NCAA’s, where he will also be diving on the one meter by way of achieving that event’s “B standard.” Cal’s two scoring divers from last year placed high enough on the platform event to secure their qualifications to the NCAA championships. The Bears have a decision to make, as they’re already at the maximum 18 swimmers for the meet. However, if they want to take their divers, they would only have to cut one swimmer because divers count as half a roster spot. If Vavitsas and Thai are taken, they will be competing in the three meter as well as the platform. Arizona State’s Lane Stallworth missed qualification by just one spot today, so the Sun Devils will be a swimming-only contingent in Federal Way.